Skyler's summer was rocked by historic flooding in her home state, yet her faith is encouraging others in the aftermath of tragedy.
You don’t have to talk to Skyler Derrington long to know three of the things she loves the most: Jesus, singing, and Camp Mystic.
The camp that sits along the Guadalupe River is a special place for the Derrington family. Skyler’s dad, Joe, attended a boy’s camp at the same location in the 1980s, and he and his wife put Skyler’s name on the waiting list for girls when she was only 1 year old to ensure the legacy continued.
“She talks about it all year. This is her thing she looks forward to,” Skyler’s mom, Lacey, said. “This year didn’t turn out as we planned, obviously. One of the hardest things for her has been not being there with her tribe.”
At the beginning of the summer, the camp holds a ceremony to induct campers into their tribe: either the Kiowas or the Tonkawas.
From the moment the girls step off the bus, Joe explained, you are with your second family.
“That’s her people,” he said.
Since Skyler was 8 years old, she’s been a Kiowa, and for the past four years, she’s returned to Camp Mystic to reunite with her group for a summer of fun.
Skyler’s tribe was with her when the floodwaters rose early on July Fourth. In the terrifying dark of that morning, Skyler remembers singing songs to the Lord with her cabin mates, trying to calm each other down. As they sang, the water receded, but not before claiming 27 lives at the camp and 107 people in Kerr County overall.
“We all stayed together and we sang,” Skyler said. She added that going through such a horrific experience has brought them even closer.
Worshiping the Lord is deeply intertwined into the Camp Mystic way of life. Each Sunday, the girls gather in the chapel to sing and listen to a message. Without the distraction of technology, they also have devotions every morning. Tweety Eastland—wife of the late camp director Dick Eastland—visits the cabins weekly for Bible study.
It’s at Camp Mystic where Skyler’s faith became her own.
At home, Skyler admits it’s hard to study the Bible with her busy schedule, but at camp, “I always read my Bible, and they always get me to highlight and talk about it.”
Skyler Derrington, 12, has been going to Camp Mystic in Texas for the past four years and was there earlier this month when deadly floodwaters overtook part of it.
In the aftermath of the flood, the Derrington family is sorting through the grief and pain, staying in touch with other Mystic families and following the news like everyone else in Texas.
During the challenges and hard days that have followed the tragedy, Skyler has been leaning on two things that have always been part of her life: God and music.
“When I was little, I would sing [songs from] ‘Moana’ all the time,” Skyler remembers with a laugh.
Lacey still pictures Skyler in kindergarten, singing a solo at her school’s chapel services. Even at age 5, singing gave her self-confidence.
“I tell people all the time, she’s shy when you talk to her in person, but when she gets behind a microphone, it’s like something switches. It just all comes out,” Joe said.
So, on a particularly hard day after the floods, Skyler let it all out into song. At a time when it’s been hard for her family to open up about their experience, a song unlocked the words Skyler needed to say. She penned three verses to the tune of “Hallelujah,” working with her mom to make it just right.
Skyler uses her gift of singing at Camp Mystic. Campers took shelter in the rec hall behind her during the floods.
“I feel like it helps out because it’s just, like, your story but in song form. It can have a message that you can send to other people,” Skyler explained.
Before she knew it, millions of people heard her words of hope. The video of Skyler’s praise to the Lord has millions of views on social media, reminding others that God is good in every circumstance.
A few times in the video, Skyler’s voice cracked, the emotion and impact of the song breaking through. Although Skyler wanted to rerecord it, her mom encouraged her to keep it real.
“Hallelujahs don’t have to be perfect. They’re beautiful just the way that they are,” Lacey said.
Beauty in the midst of pain is the prevailing theme of her story. The floods devastated so much—claiming precious lives, sweeping whole cabins away, and piling debris in the places that Skyler called home. But the floods could never destroy God’s love.
When the Derringtons returned to Camp Mystic to retrieve Skyler’s belongings, they were struck by God’s presence through other Christians.
“Some of these [families], they lost everything. And people [ask], ‘What can I bring? I’ll bring you anything.’ And they’re like, ‘Bring me a hug. Just come and hug us.’ I saw a lot of hugs and it was so beautiful,” Lacey recalled with a smile.
Toward the end of her song, Skyler wrote a line that characterizes her response to this tragedy.
“We spread His light, His love, His Word, the holy and the broken hallelujah.”
That hallelujah will continue to ring through Texas and around the world as Skyler’s song inspires others to praise Jesus in the storm.
Pray for Skyler, her family, and so many others who are picking up the pieces after the flooding. Ask God to comfort them with His peace and presence.